Don't make enemies over politics

Politics divides.

If you distrust your neighbor because of political differences, it’s not your neighbor -- or you -- who’s at fault. It’s politics. Some would have you believe we are at war with each other, but your neighbors aren’t the enemy, even if they follow the enemy. Or if you do. Don’t let politics make you hate each other -- that would be a tragedy.

I’ve heard people claim “everything is political.” This is not a healthy way of looking at life -- it’s not even a smart claim. Things are only political if someone makes them political by threatening to use government violence against any who disagree with them. That’s what politics is.

The major political parties infesting America are both guilty of antisocial behavior. Whichever side has the most government and corporate power at the moment is usually the worst offender, but this top position never lasts. Currently, it’s the left, but this hasn’t always been the case.

Nothing should have been made political to begin with. It was and we are paying the price.

A new cold virus shouldn’t have been made political. People could have been warned it existed, then allowed to decide what to do with the information. Medical advice based on the best guesses could have even been offered. This wasn’t what happened. Instead, some people decided government should be used to force everyone to do what those in power imagined was the best thing to do. Control-freaks among us helped government tyrants impose their will on the people.

Now the economy is damaged; inflation has frittered away the value of our money, and broken people point fingers at each other instead of blaming the guilty ones who caused it.

I always try to assume the best of people until they show me this trust is misplaced.

Unless a person comes up to you on the street and shoves a gun or a law in your face, assume they aren’t one of the bad guys. If they treat you right by respecting your liberty, give them the same courtesy.

Those who won’t respect your liberty may not understand the harm they are doing by supporting a political policy. They may not have considered the effects, only believing the lies told to them by the political criminals they follow.

Let’s not treat each other as the enemy. Our real enemies don’t want us united. They feed on the power you give them, so starve them instead.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at: 

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